Happy Fifth of July or, as it is known in theatre circles, Lanford Wilson day. And no, I’m not going to explain that. Google and Wikipedia are your friends. Until they are made to conform to ideology rather than fact. Given our reliance on these sorts of digital tools, it’s now a good deal easier for an authoritarian regime to rewrite history. The right programmer, a few keystrokes, and poof! Inconvenient facts and events vanish from the record. I imagine they’ll start experimenting with the erasure of inconvenient people in the not too distant future. I’d probably end up on that list if anyone actually read these random musings of mine outside of my immediate circle of acquaintance. I’ve been rereading some of my Accidental Plague Diaries in preparation for future writing projects. So much of what was written there, less than five years ago, has been stricken from the current narrative of the pandemic. The books will remain as an acurate reflection of what really happened.
Facts and science, however, remain immutable. Yesterday there were devastating flash floods in Texas and dozens were killed. There was apparently little warning of the rainstorms that sparked the flooding. Perhaps axing the budget of the National Weather Service and taking a number of its data bases off line was not the wisest of ideas. And I’m dure Greg Abbott and Ken Paxton will get right on clearing the debris and putting things to rights now that FEMA has more or less been dismembered. Meanwhile, in Florida, the first rainstorm to hit Alligator Auschwitz (a non uncommon occurence in central Florida in the summer) seems to be disrupting the various tents and there are several inches of standing water on the floors. I don’t think I need to tell you that the combination of stagnant water and crowded human beings is a set up for infectious disease. And once seeded, they are not likely to remain conveniently solely on site.
What is the purpose of the detention camp in the swamps of Florida? Which, if the current administration has its way, will be replicated in a town near you in the ridiculous attempt to deport every undcomumented or paperwork error or funny accented or anything else that strikes ICE’s fancy person in the US over the next few years. The legislation signed yesterday pours billions into this shameful project so they’ll have all the resources they need to do it. The true purpose of something is often not evident. Take the famous example of the McDonald’s Ice Cream machines. (The ones that are always broken). It would seem that the purpose of these machines is to dispense frosty goodness to the great American public but as an investigation by Wired showed, this is not so. The true purpose is to continue to enrich the Taylor Company (the machines’ manufacturer) who also have an exclusive contract for maintenance and repair. The more they break, the more money flows through the service contracts.
Given the economics of these concentration camps, built by companies with strong ties to the administration and major donors to the Republican party, the cost being charged to the federal government comes out to about $250 per bed per day. Hampton Inn would be cheaper. The annual budget for Alligator Auschwitz is an astonishing 450 million dollars. The inner workings are shrouded in secrecy. Just as ICE is refusing Democratic lawmakers access to their federal facilities in violation of federal law, the state of Florida is refusing Florida Democratic lawmakers access to this place despite it having been built with tax revenues – a violation of state law. Nothing good happens behind closed doors. These camps are likely to be a profitable business and healthy investment for those behind them thanks to the largess of the federal treasury. The purpose of these camps will, therefore, be return on investment. And once built, they will not be allowed to be empty as that would reduce the revenue stream. We will start seeing native born citizens rounded up and incarcerated eventually if things do not change. The MAGA drummers are already talking about the need to deport 65 million Americans. This is the entire population of the US of Latin/Hispanic heritage, many of whose families have been here far longer than the arriviste northern Europeans.
I did not watch the signing of the Big Beautiful Bill. It’s big. It’s hardly beautiful and signing it on the 4th of July (which MAGA loved) is a perversion of that date in history. I can hardly wait to see what they have in store for this next year, our 250th anniversary. Fifty years ago, for the bicentennial, we had the rather staid Bicentennial Minutes on CBS every evening. And with only three national networks (four if you count PBS), we all watched them. I’ve heard rumors Trump is going to give us a UFC smackdown at the White House. The bill is full of heinous cuts to social services and various mechanisms to continue the flow of capital to the very few at the top. Most of the pain, however, is delayed with most of the cuts set to go into effect at the end of 2026 (after the midterms) and 2028 (after the general). Because of this delay, a lot of them will be relatively easy to undo by a new congress. Presuming we have egalitarian elections next year, if all of those who dislike what’s in the bill (about 70% of the country) vote against the party that drafted and passed it, it can be made to go away.
I decided to forego the fireworks last night (I wasn’t in the mood) but I did get a little time in the sun and had a large sloppy hamburger for lunch. Today, I’m planning on going to see the new Jurassic Park movie. I’ve heard it’s terrible but I have a fondness for dino disaster tales. I’ve never quite figured out why Steven Spielberg’s original, one of the finest summer popcorn movies evver, has been able to spawn so many grade z sequels. Even Spielberg wasn’t able to capture lightning in a bottle twice. He directed the first sequel and it’s one of the worst of the lot. I have Monday off so it’s a four day weekend for me. With luck all of the little tasks I’ve been putting off will start falling off of my To Do list, struck through in the turquoise ink from the pen that’s currently sitting next to my notepad. That is if the cats haven’t expropriated it for a toy. No matter how many cute little cat toy things I give them, they prefer pens and pencils knocked off whatever flat surface they’ve been resting on. At least it’s just writing implements and they haven’t graduated to vases and serving platters.
Life, The Universe, and Everything 